Random Questions from The Boy Who Lived

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 164758

Stephanie wrote:
><snip>
> I wonder if Lily and Petunia were married about the same time since
 Dudley and Harry are about the same age.  Did they go to each others
weddings?  It seems that Lily and Petunia had at least a minimum
amount of contact, how else would Petunia know about Harry.

Carol responds:
I don't know about attending each other's weddings, but it does seem
that they received each other's wedding and baby announcements. How
else would Petunia know that her sister has a son named Harry a month
younger than Dudley? (Even Dudley knows the date of Harry's birthday:
"I know what day it is!" he says in OoP, IIRC). So, unless Petunia
reads the Daily Prophet, which seems extremely unlikely, you must be
right about the "minimum amount of contact."

Stephanie:
>  If Vernon detests wizards so much why would Petunia tell him
anything about her sister? 

Carol responds:
Maybe Petunia has more common sense than we give her credit for. Maybe
rather than waiting, as Seamus Finnigan's mother waits to tell her
Muggle husband that she's a witch, Petunia decides to reveal her
shameful secret (my sister's a witch!) before their marriage. Doing so
would be easier, of course, if Petunia and Vernon grew up in the same
neighborhood and Vernon knew that Lily went to a different school from
her sister, behaved oddly, and knew at least one "awful boy" who
behaved as oddly as she did. Petunia would have to swear Vernon to
secrecy and then provide some sort of evidence to corroborate her
story (such as frog spawn in Lily's pockets or her wand or her
Hogwarts letter) or Vernon would think she was insane. But better to
be rejected before their marriage than after it, and she could make a
show of being embarrassed and ashamed of her sister. It could even be
a test of Vernon's love for her: "Will you still love me if I tell you
a terrible secret about my family?" (Vernon's one virtue, IMO, is that
he really does love Petunia. At times, he even seems a bit afraid of
her. Maybe she's afraid she'll stop loving him, as Petunia is afraid
that Dudley will stop loving *her* if she doesn't give in to his
tantrums? It seems to be a family failing.) 

Stephanie: 
> Did her jealousy of Lily drive her to go in the opposite direction
and marry Vernon.

Carol:
Certainly, he's the ArchMuggle, as unmagical as you can get, the
perfect person for her to marry on the rebound if she were rejected by
a wizard. But what wizard of Lily's acquaintance would be attracted to
Petunia, who has neither looks nor personality nor brains to
compensate for the "magical blood" that her sister has and she
doesn't? (Actually, I can see a romance between Petunia and Peter
Pettigrew. Makes a nice set of names for a married couple, doesn't it?
But I don't see any evidence for such an attraction nor for the
attraction between her and severus snape than some people have
speculated about. How about handsome Sirius, who would probably find
Petunia about as attractive as a Thestral?)
> 
Stephanie:
> I am also shocked that Vernon didn't realize wizards for what they
were.  I guess he was in denial. 

Carol:
Not necessarily. If his only acquaintance with the WW comes via Lily,
he may not know how wizards ordinarily dress. But, yes, he seems to be
in near-permanent denial regarding his wife's relatives and even the
existence of magic. ("Motorcycles don't fly!" and all that.) And the
last thing he wants to hear is news of Petunia's relatives (the
Potters and their son, Harry, even if it's bad news--and given Dedalus
Diggle's "this happy, happy day!" he has no reason to suspect bad news
at this point). (At least, I think that was Dedalus Diggle, who is
mentioned by McGonagall and appears in person in the Leaky Cauldron
later in SS/PS).

Stephanie:
It also appears that there are quite a few wizards in Little Whinging.
 Do some of them have muggle jobs? <snip>
 
Carol:
I'm not so sure that Vernon works in Little Whinging. He could work
elsewhere in Surrey or even London, which I think is within easy
commuting distance (Vernon drives to work). If his office is anywhere
near Diagon Alley, he'd probably see lots of wizards, especially on
that particular day when witches and wizards aren't even bothering to
disguise themselves as Muggles (at which they seem to be inept, in any
case). It's also possible that the wizards Vernon saw were Order
members sent by DD to keep an eye on Vernon. At any rate, I think that
Dedalus Diggle, whom we know to be the person who shook hand with
Harry in a shop, and possibly the witch he encountered on a bus were
Order members keeping an eye on Harry to supplement Mrs. Figg and her
cats.

Stephanie:
> And the most important,  What was in the LETTER???
>
Carol:
*That* much we'll find out. JKR has said of Petunia (as of Snape) that
there's more to her than meets the eye even though she's neither a
witch nor a Squib and is not the person who'll perform magic "late in
life" in the last book. (I'm betting that's Mrs. Figg.) But I think
that Petunia will finally let her repressed affection or concern for
Harry show itself, that she'll share Dumbledore's letter(s) with him
(in gratitude for his saving Dudley's life???), and that she'll tell
Harry what she remembers about her sister and "that awful boy." When
Vernon is safely at work or in the hospital, of course.

Carol, just having fun here and not committed to any of these ideas
except Figgy as the one who does magic late in life